- Why in news
- On 23 September 2026, MoSPI released a press note on the Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey (July 2025 to June 2026, NSS 80th round). The report is titled 'Domestic Tourism in India'.
- What it is
- The Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey is a household survey run by the National Statistics Office under MoSPI. It records overnight trips, same-day trips, modes of travel, type of stay and trip spending by Indian residents. An earlier round was held in 2014-15, so the new one allows comparison over time.
- Who ran it
- The National Statistics Office (NSO) conducted the survey, and MoSPI released the findings. It was part of NSS 80th round.
- Top purpose of overnight trips (365 days)
- Pilgrimage and religious trips had the highest share, 48%, in both rural and urban areas.
- Leading states for visitor-trips
- Uttar Pradesh had the highest share of visitor-trips (15.7%), then Tamil Nadu (13.4%) and Rajasthan (8.0%).
- Definition of overnight trip
- A round trip outside the usual environment lasting at least twelve hours across two consecutive calendar days and at most 180 days.
- Method and coverage
- Data were collected on tablets through CAPI. The survey covered all of India except hard-to-reach villages in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Don’t confuse with Overnight trip vs same-day trip: An overnight trip includes the 12:00 midnight to 5:00 A.M. window. A same-day trip does not involve an overnight stay.
Don’t confuse with 365-day vs 30-day reference periods: Holiday, pilgrimage, health and shopping trips were recorded over 365 days. Business, social, education and other overnight trips, and same-day trips, were recorded over 30 days.
Reports and indices: 14 Prelims questions since 2013; they test who publishes a report and what it measures.
Why it matters
- Tourism spending data show how much demand domestic travel creates, which helps plan transport, stays and religious and health tourism.
- Comparison with 2014-15 shows rising trip rates and more households taking same-day trips.
Problems
- Recall-based household surveys can misstate trips and spending, especially over a 365-day period.
- Different reference periods for different trip purposes make the figures hard to compare directly.
Way forward
- Use the state-wise findings to plan transport and facilities in high-footfall states and pilgrimage centres.
- Feed the data into Tourism Satellite Account estimates of tourism's contribution to the economy.
Put in your answer
Rise in same-day trips: Rural households making at least one same-day trip rose to 65.1% from 57.1% in 2014-15.
- 2014Mains ESSAY · Q4Whether tourism can be the next big thing for India
- 2015Mains GS1 · Q17Critically evaluate tourism reaching ecological carrying capacity in J&K, HP, Uttarakhand
- 2023Mains GS3 · Q11Examine methodology for computing unemployment in India and suggest improvements
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
No practice question for this one; the card may still help an answer. Why: NSO survey on the syllabus, but routine data. Reports are 4% of news-linked Prelims questions and mostly test the publisher.
Worth revising until Prelims 2028: most news questions come within two years of the event.